Musco Twilight
by LogicBomb.32
Summary: An unexpected visitor gives Rory the closure she doesn't realize she needs.


**Title: Musco Twilight **

**Author: LogicBomb.32**

**Ships: None **

**Summary: An unexpected visitor gives Rory the closure she needs. **

**Authors Note: This is my first story in the Gilmore Girls fandom and while the show has been longer over, I am just discovering it. This takes place somewhere in season 2 although there is no specific references so it doesn't really matter where you want it to take place. Also I know that angst and drama (of this kind) are not the staples of this show but I hope you can enjoy the change.**

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><p>Pale, trembling hands reached out and fumbled with the button, freezing the screen on the moment of her mothers demise. Black and white pixilated bodies on a tiny screen forever immobilized by the angst of a teenage nightmare, shining dark eyes staring at the familiar figure, unshed tears trembling on her lower lid. This was not the first time Rory had seen this video, it was not the second or third or even the fifth time, she did not know how many times she had watched this video, the last moments of her mothers life captured by a grainy security camera.<p>

Truth be told Rory knew that she shouldn't have this disk, shouldn't be able to relive the nightmare over and over again, but she did have it and so she did relive it. And every time she watched the footage, every time she watched the end, the pain killed a little bit more of her.

This night was no different, she felt the line between sanity and oblivion blurring and the numbness that had so consumed her finally fading. Replaced by a raw, unnamable emotion that ebbed and flowed inside of her like some parasitic worm, leeching the will to live from her bones, from her blood, from her soul. And yet something about tonight was different, something about the moment at which she had frozen the security footage had brought her attention out of the abyss.

Rory had not been present when her mother was shot to death in a mini-mart robber gone wrong. She had been taking a test, fifty multiple choice about political models in Asia, when she suddenly got the overwhelming feeling that _something _was wrong, horribly, horribly wrong. But she couldn't do anything about it, or risk getting suspended and a zero on the test.

And then it had happened, the moment that would forever and always be frozen in her memory

_A sharp knock on the door to the classroom brought the students wandering attentions to a single focus. The teacher paused, barking a sharp "Enter" of irritation of being interrupted. _

_The door swung open and the headmaster of Chilton stepped in, a solemn expression on his face. Everyone's curiosity was instantaneously piqued "Rory Gilmore." He said, scanning the uniformed students for the Gilmore. _

"_Yes." She said, standing up and avoiding the curious gazes of her classmates, she didn't need this right now. Not at this instance, when all she was doing was simply trying to get through the day and shake this feeling of dread "Yes sir?" she repeated more of a question now, her headmasters hesitation scaring her. _

"_Bring your stuff." He said before turning to the slightly disgruntled teacher "Excuse this interruption."_

_Following him into the hallway, they had taken naught but a few steps down the hallway before Rory could no longer contain herself "What's going on?" she demanded, stopping in the middle of the hallway, wanting an answer "Has something happened?" _

_He turned, taking a deep breath and even as he was going to articulate to his young pupil that it was not recommended her tell her this in the hallway, he saw a shining defiance that told him it would be here or never "I'm so sorry." He said "There was" he paused, searching for the right words "there was an incident in Hartford." _

"_An incident?" Rory squeaked, dropping her bag. _

"_Your mother." He said, "She-she was involved in a robbery." _

_Not sure how to break it to his student that her mother was dead, the headmaster paused, willing some part of his experience to guide him through this "Lorelai Gilmore?" an unfamiliar voice said form behind the headmaster. _

_Rory looked up at the sound of her whole first name "Rory." She said to the pair of police officers walking down the hall "You can call me Rory, what's going on?" she asked again, this time desperation tainting her words. _

"_Rory." One of the police officers said, guiding her to a bench "Your mom was involved in a robbery in Hartford." _

"_I know that!" Rory exclaimed, frustrated "I don't what that means, my mom doesn't rob people, she wouldn't be able to drive a get away car or anything like that so just tell me what's going on!" _

"_Your mom was shot." The same officer said slowly "She died on the way to the hospital." _

_No. No. No. No. No. No. _

_What? _

And now, here she was.

Blankets from her mothers bed wrapped around her, cocooning her from the rest of the world. A computer perched perilously on her knee, the DVD she had stolen from god knows where the only activity it had seen for days. At first it was curiosity and the need for closure, something that coaxed words and press photos couldn't do for her, that had drawn her to the video. Now, now it was an addiction.

The doorbell rang.

Rory froze, not sure what to do exactly, sure that it was Luke or Sookie or her grandparents or one of a dozen other concerned village members checking up on her. Then the doorbell rang again and she knew that any of those people would have already entered the house, not respecting the privacy that she so desired after days of condolences and peering eyes. She needed the solitude that only her house could provide.

Slowly, painstakingly slow, Rory made her way down the stairs, muscles protesting the movements after hours of sitting still. The doorbell rang a third time just as Rory got to the bottom step and she opened the door halfway. She froze, eyes glued to the person standing on her doorstep, a person she had only seen in the grainy film of a mini-mart camera.

"Uhm." The person on her doorstep said, shifting awkwardly form one foot to the other, hands jammed into her jacket pockets "Hi. I know that this is a really bad time and you probably don't know who I am but-"

Rory cut her off "You're from the mini-mart." She said, the sound of her own voice unfamiliar after hours of silence "The girl in the video."

"Video?" the stranger replied

"Security camera." Rory said by means of explanation "Come in." she then added, not wanting to have whatever conversation was about to happen on the porch.

It was an awkward silence that fell between the two teenagers as they sat down in the living room. Rory studied the stranger, the black and white pixels did her no justice whatsoever. She had alabaster skin, pale even for these parts of the countryside and sharp blue eyes, framed by black glasses. Her hair was blonder than the time she had bleached Lane's and it was pulled back into a tight ponytail, revealing the motely of bruises that cascaded down her neck and vanished underneath her jacket.

"I'm Cameron." The stranger said

"Rory." Rory whispered, not able to talk any louder, not that she was the one to be doing the talking.

"My parents didn't want me to come here." Cameron said, brushing a loose stand of hair from her face, a nervous twitch "But I wanted to, I- god, I knew what I was going to say but-" she was struggling with something, falling into a silence for a moment, composing herself, before finally blurting out "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Rory saw the girls eyes shining with tears and flashes of guilt that were quickly hidden "What for?" Rory asked "You didn't pull the trigger."

Cameron shook her head "You saw what happened." She said quietly "You know how you mom died."

Rory nodded, that moment, those frames, would be forever etched in her memory, seared there for eternity.

"She moved in front of me." Cameron said "When-when the guy started shouting and waving the-the-the gun around, she moved in front of me, made sure that when he started shooting she would get hit first."

For days Rory had seen this happen, over and over again, she had cursed that, until a few moments ago, nameless girl. But now, now hearing the words, tumbling from the strangers lips, it brought tears to her eyes. Questions she had avoided thinking about rushed forward, fighting for a chance to be voiced, but only one was whispered into the silence "Did she say anything?"

It was terribly cliché of her to ask but the burning desire to know if any last words had come from her mother, she needed to know.

"It was so crazy, I don't remember a lot of it to be honest but-but after one shot went off I fell to the ground, ducked or something. Your mom she, she was lying there and, and, she had one hand to where she had been shot and-and" she stopped.

Rory however was mesmerized by the words, the scene that she hadn't been able to get a clear view of, the true last moments of her mothers life being spelled out for her.

"and she just looked at me and grabbed my hand." Cameron's eyes were glued to her hand, as if she could feel the warm blood of this unknown woman dripping down her palm and onto her jeans "I was crying, terrified out of my mind and she just held my hand. She was trying to say something, but-but there was so much blood and, god, I'm so sorry." She finally finished, the tears streaming down both the teens faces.

Minutes passed before Cameron spoke, standing up as she did so "She died saving my life and, and I just wanted you to know that. She didn't have to but she stepped in front of me, like I was her own kid. I owe her my life."

"What was she buying?" Rory asked suddenly, one hand on the door as Cameron made her way down the steps.

"What?"

"Buying? She was in a mini-mart, what was she buying?"

Cameron paused, thinking for a moment "Coffee, she was going on and on to the manager about how she couldn't find a decent cup of coffee anywhere."

Coffee, Rory smiled, watching as the girl she had barely know and would never know again vanished around the corner. She turned, walking back into the and up the stairs to her mothers bedroom, the computer screen still frozen where she had stopped it before. She stared at the screen for a long moment before ejecting the disk from the drive. It was warm in her hands, almost burning a ring where she held it on the edges and without hesitation she snapped it in half.

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><p><em>Well, you made it to the end, for that I give you a hearty congrats! Thoughts about the plot itself, the potential OCness of the characters or just comments and concerns in general are always welcomed. <em>

_A question out of personal interest: _

_Favorite Episode of Gilmore Girls? _

_Thanks, _

_LogicBomb.32_


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